Sports reporter & Video journalist

Ready to take on the best: Daniel Geale during a training session in Sydney before flying to the US to face Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square Garden. Photo: Brendan Esposito

The intense look in Bailey Geale’s eyes suggest the nine-year-old, not his father Daniel, is preparing to fight the World Boxing Association’s "Super" middleweightchampion Gennady Golovkin at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

He clenches his fists tightly, ensures his feet are positioned correctly, and lunges forward to land a jab and snappy right hand into his father's open palm. At his father's urging, the boy repeats the action only this time, as if to steady himself, he chants “jab, power” above the thud of the blows. He repeats the words until Geale snr ends the bombardment by shaking his right hand in the gymnasium’s cold air when a "stinger" hits home.

“Very good,” says Daniel Geale, primed to fight the undefeated Golovkin in New York. “Don’t lean so forward. Just lean back a little ... that’s it ... one-two ... very nice.”

As Geale snr imparts the fundamentals of the craft that provided a home for Bailey and his two sisters, the quietly-spoken 33-year-old holds a hope. Long after the shine of the belts and medals he’s bled for are dulled by dust, he hopes his children take the way he held himself in a sport reputedly dominated by cut-throats, double-dealers and back-stabbers, as a compass for their lives. Geale will fight KO merchant Golovkin, a monster chiselled from Kazakhstani granite, in a bout that could define his career.

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Geale is deep in thought as he watches his son “jab and power”. He’s thinking he’d like his career to be a source of pride for his kids, more for the way he conducted himself – regardless of the judge’s cards, the opponent’s taunts and the advice he ignored to be more showboat than quiet achiever to sell tickets.

Geale is already as highly regarded for his chivalry as he is for his achievements. Before he defeated Felix Sturm in Germany two years ago for the WBA crown, Geale was universally praised for advising the German’s camp the local boxing authority had mistakenly approved him to wear eight-ounce gloves – the next best thing to bare knuckles – not the agreed upon 10-ounce gloves. When Anthony Mundine questioned the Aboriginality of Geale’s children before their fight 18 months ago, he still offered Mundine his glove as a sign of respect before the final round of his victory, knowing Mundine would refuse. Despite his status, he trains and drives a troupe of amateur boxers to tournaments. When he was controversially beaten on points by England’s Darren Barker for his International Boxing Federation belt last year, Geale simply congratulated the new champion on a good fight.

“I hope my kids take a few messages from my career,” he says. “One important message is if you’ve got a direction to go, don’t take the easy route, take the harder option, because it’ll pay off in the long run.

"I’d like to think they’ve seen I’ve copped knock-backs on the chin and that they saw when you get those decisions or moments when things are hard, what defines you is how you bounce back. I’ve valued dignity ... that was something I decided upon early in my career and I’m glad I stuck to my guns. When, if, my kids ask me about that sense of worth, I’ll be able to say I was ‘me’ throughout my entire career. I never tried to be anyone else. I’ll tell them I knew I had it in me to get to where I wanted without stooping to any lows to gain attention.”

Geale, a Sydney Olympian with a total of 200 professional and amateur bouts, knows he is considered David in the battle against a Goliath named Golovkin. The heavy-handed assassin has knocked out 26 of his 29 opponents. Adding to the legend is no one has lasted the distance with him since 2008. It’s a tall order, but Geale says this challenge was what he’d dreamt of as a young fighter who made money working the deep fryer at a fast-food joint in his native Tasmania.

“Golovkin, you dream of fights like this,” he says. “I had my goals set very high, even as a young boxer, because I wanted to achieve a lot. I can’t say I’m completely surprised this has happened because I’ve worked my entire life to be in this position. If you have a plan, you shouldn’t be surprised when it comes off.”

Geale has learnt from his experiences of being the underdog in hostile territory. He defeated Sebastian Sylvester for his IBF belt and then Sturm for the WBA crown in Germany, a nation described as the hardest place on earth for a foreigner to get the judge’s decision.

The Australian, whose bloodlines are entwined with the Palawa, a people who were driven to the brink of extinction by the disease and the violence European settlers introduced to Tasmania 200 years ago, has vowed to shine in the most revered boxing venue of all – Madison Square Garden, where the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier rumbled.

“I’m going into the fight confident,” Geale says. “It’s true what everyone says, you have to believe in yourself, and that’s what me and my team have done.

"We’ve trained hard. I have the opportunity to fight a world champion and take some world titles off him and to also get a chance to fight at Madison Square Garden is a dream fulfilled. If you go into the fight worried about what he can do; the big KO punch or he can do this, can do that, you can be beaten before you enter the ring. I’m going in certain if I fight the way I know I can, I can win this. I have a confidence that I can do it.”

Geale thought about plenty as his son “jabbed and powered” in the gym but he knew little Bailey had other matters, of wonder and adventure, fighting for his attention than a father sharing lessons from the school of hard knocks.

“He’s only nine so he doesn’t listen to me much,” he says with a grin. “Listens to anyone but dad right now.”

Regardless of how Geale fares against Golovkin, when the time seems right for him to share the ways of the world, it’s hoped Geale’s children will appreciate the insights of a true champion.

1 comment so far

What a great role model....humble,articulate,hard working and a loving father.

Good luck Daniel.The whole of Australia is behind you.Win,lose or draw - no doubt you will give it your all for your family and country and do us all proud.